Strategies of coping in achievement settings and the role of self-awareness in the type a coronary prone behaviour pattern

Abstract

The Type A behaviour pattern (TABP) has emerged as a predictor of reaction to stress in interaction with a range of task and environmental variables. This paper reports the results of two experimental studies to demonstrate that, in order to predict the role of the TABP, measured both by questionnaire and by structured interview in reaction to stress in demanding cognitive tasks, the influence of the nature of the feedback given to performers (success or failure at earlier stages of the task) and the degree to which the performers are aware of being observed directly (high versus low levels of manipulated self-awareness) need to be taken into account. The nature of the internal standards that people who, to a greater or less extent possess the TABP, must be known before predictions can be made about how performance will be affected.